Caribbean to experience wetter, warmer season in 2016

The Caribbean region is predicated to experience in 2016 a rainy season that is wetter and warmer than usual, a regional meteorological outlook said Monday.

There will be a gradual drought alleviation from June to August in the Caribbean, while the region will brace for more rain between September and November, according to the regional Wet/Hurricane Season Outlook for 2016.

The report was released by the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) as regional meteorologists and climate researchers gathered in Roseau, capital city of Dominica, for the Caribbean Climate Outlook Forum.

Regional countries should be cautious about mosquito breeding and serious potential for flash flooding and landslides during the wetter than usual months, warned Annie Carrette-Jospeh, a climatologist with the Dominica Meteorologist Service.

The outlook said temperatures in the next six months will be above normal. The paper urged regional authorities to stay alert over health risks from heat exposure to higher electricity consumption.

In addition, the CIMH predicted that the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season will be likely more active than the situation in the past five years.

There will be 12 named tropical storms in the season and the Caribbean will have to deal with at least one major hurricane with the category of either 3, 4 or 5, it predicted.

The Caribbean rainy season usually comes with the Atlantic hurricane season that runs from June 1 to November 30 in 2016. Endi